Dieu Donné is a leading non-profit cultural institution dedicated to serving established and emerging artists through the collaborative creation of contemporary art using the process of hand papermaking.

Dieu Donné is pleased to present the 2018 edition of the acclaimed Paper Variables series featuring New York-based painter, sculptor, and printmaker Elise Ferguson. For her edition, entitled Clamp, Ferguson sought to translate the layering techniques she often uses in her paintings to a handmade paper edition. Working in tandem with Studio Collaborator Tatiana Ginsberg, color and geometric patterns took center stage through layering brightly colored linen pulps on cream or black cotton base sheets.

The artist began her project with an image that would yield many possible combinations—an undulating U-shaped wave comprised of multiple parallel lines. These were cut into a pair of mylar stencils, which made it possible to create thin, crisp lines, as well as the ability to use up to three separate colors on each base sheet. Next, Ferguson determined a set of color options and began experimenting with different combinations, such as vivid blue set against a black base sheet or robin’s egg blue combined with summery yellow set against a cream base sheet. “Color is central in my work,” says Ferguson, “color as communicator, as an associative, subjective thing.”

Working in stenciled pulp paint created a distinctive look unique to papermaking, which nonetheless closely relates to the artist’s approach to painting. Ferguson remarked, “While the imagery in my work appears crisp and hard edged, my goal is not perfection, so the irregularities and the “alive” quality to the pulp paint helped to communicate this….this project has yielded my preferred result—many new ideas for future projects.”

Elise Ferguson lives and works in Brooklyn NY. Her work has recently appeared in solo exhibitions at the Halsey McKay Gallery, Romer Young Gallery and 57W57 Arts, Monya Rowe Gallery. Group exhibitions include Albada Jelgersma in Amsterdam, Ikast Kunstpakhus in Denmark, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, Sculpture Center, Socrates Sculpture Park, Barton Art Galleries, and University Galleries, Illinois State, among others. She has been recognized with several awards, including a Northern Trust Purchase Prize, an EAST International exhibition grant, and residencies at Barton College, University of Nevada Las Vegas, MacDowell Colony, Illinois State University, Socrates Sculpture Park, and a Dieu Donne Papermill Workspace Grant. She is represented by Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton and Romer Young Gallery in San Francisco.